After Deng Ming's army arrived in Fengjie, Wen Anzhi quickly took over the command of Tan Wen's remaining troops, and Zhou Kaihuang also had to set off to return to Dachang to report to Yuan Zongdi.

Someone is responsible for managing everything in Fengjie, and it is naturally not Deng Ming's turn to intervene in the matter of rewarding the soldiers for meritorious deeds, and Deng Ming hangs around Fengjie when he has nothing to do. Deng Ming originally hoped that Zhao Tianba could be a tour guide for him, because he heard that Zhao Tianba also had no regular job, but Wen Anzhi told him that Zhao Tianba had another task and had already set off from Fengjie with a few entourages in the starry night.

Feng Jie was not familiar with the place, so Deng Ming asked Wen Anzhi for a guide, and he was also very concerned about his safety, so he planned to send him a team of soldiers as a guard. After not wanting to hear about this, a few people immediately volunteered, all of them were guards who followed Deng Ming to lure the enemy during the First World War in Wanxian. In addition to the wounded and killed soldiers, eight of the remaining fourteen people turned out to be Tan Wen's subordinates, and the flag bearer was also the original Wanxian Army.

Normally, this kind of transfer requires the nod of the original immediate boss, and it is easy to leave a bad reputation for betraying the benefactor, but seven of the nine commanders have been missing in the First Battle of Chóngqìng, and the commander of one person is Li Xinghan, and he and the commander of the last person are willing to send their strong men to Deng Ming, and even the fact that Deng Ming needs guards is something they took the initiative to tell his subordinates and encourage them to recommend themselves.

Deng Ming knew that these nine people were all good men, and according to the habits of this era that he had already understood, it was a great favor for Li Xinghan that they were willing to cut their love, so after accepting them, he ran to thank the two officers. Seeing that Deng Ming made a special trip to thank him, both of them were flushed and didn't even dare to say that they didn't dare to cross the river from the north bank of Chóngqìng, they both owed Deng Ming three life-saving graces, and because of the merits of the two wars, Wen Anzhi may also be rewarded and promoted. Since Li Xinghan and the others have arrived in Fengjie, they will no longer be under the command of Deng Ming in the future, and they may not act together in the future, which can be regarded as their parting "gift", but Deng Ming is quite uncomfortable with them taking gifts from others.

Not far from Fengjie is the White Emperor City, Deng Ming and others sailed to the foot of the mountain by boat, I don't know if it is because the boat is too small, looking up at the White Emperor City above the head is towering, as if it is located on the top of the fairy mountain.

"This is Caotang Lake." After landing on the shore, the guide sent by Wen Anzhi pointed to a lake area behind the White Emperor City and introduced Deng Ming.

Originally, I thought that the guards could serve as guides, but I didn't want to clear that they were all the original Wanxian soldiers, and I didn't know anything about this place. If it was Deng Ming's previous life, he would think that it was unimaginable that the people of Wanxian County had not come to Fengjie, but in this era, there were no cars and no ships, although the distance between the two places was only 200 miles, and the average Wanxian people might not consider trekking through mountains and rivers and going through all the hardships to travel to Fengjie in their lives.

"Where's the cottage?" Immediately, a person asked, this person's name was Wu San.

"Isn't there one there?" Another guard replied for the guide, pointing to a hut in the distance, this guard's name was somewhat similar to the previous one, called Wu San.

"Thatched Lake has been called this for hundreds of years," the guide laughed, "There was a great poet who lived here, and his thatched hut was already broken. ”

"Is it Du Fu?" When Deng Ming heard the name Caotang Lake, he felt that it might be related to Du Fu.

"Mr. Deng sees it." The guide was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

There were many boats moored in Caotang Lake, some of which were captured by Deng Ming from Tan Yi. The guide told him that the Ming naval divisions in the Fengjie area were usually stationed in Caotang Lake, and that there were lookout posts and beacon towers on Fengjie in the west and the White Emperor City in the east, and that if the Qing military transport fleet was found, it would send a signal to the naval division. If the Qing army's naval division is huge, the Ming army will continue to stay in the safety of Caotang Lake, and if the Qing army is insufficient to protect the ships, the Ming army will come out to intercept it.

"If the Tartar boat wants to sail from the downstream to Chóngqìng, it will have to pass through the Three Gorges and Fengjie, and we will intercept the entire Three Gorges along the way, and the White Emperor City is the last pass."

According to the guide, in the past ten years, the Qing army's naval divisions have been unable to get through the layers of guò, and if they want to attack the hinterland of Sichuan, they can only transport grain from the front line of Hanzhong. Last year, although countless ships were transferred from the downstream to escort the grain ships, the Ming army still successfully intercepted many Qing troops' baggage with the help of geographical advantages. The Qing army must always be on guard on this road, always maintain a formation, if the team is scattered and disjointed, it may be attacked by the Ming army, and of course, it is impossible to fall behind.

"How have the Tartar ships been in the last month or two?" Deng Ming asked.

"It's much less, and no boat dares to come in the last ten days." The guide said proudly: "I don't know how many people and boats have been left in the Three Gorges. ”

Deng Ming was not as optimistic as the guide. In his opinion, if the Qing soldiers desperately transported supplies to Chóngqìng regardless of a single thing, it meant that Wu Sangui's army was tight. After the First World War, the naval divisions of the Sichuan and Eming armies were severely damaged, but the Qing army suddenly stopped taking this waterway, which can only show that Wu Sangui's progress was smooth, and they felt that there was no need to lose ships and pay such a price.

White Emperor City is the place where Liu Bei died. The guide was a local, and because of his eloquence, he was specially selected by Wen Anzhi, and he told Deng Ming and his party about Liu Bei's deeds along the way, as well as the origin of the name of the White Emperor City:

"In this place, Gongsun Hong of the Han Dynasty dreamed that there was a white dragon rising to the sky, thinking that it was a sign that God wanted him to represent Han as the Son of Heaven, so he built a city named White Emperor City, and set the capital here, but he did not expect to be exterminated by Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty......"

"This is the place where the Son of Zhaolie is lonely, in this place, the Son of Zhaolie asked the queen to worship Prime Minister Zhuge as his father......"

Deng Ming and the guards watched with great interest the places pointed out to them by the tour guide.

"Jun can be ten times better than the children of the Cao family, and he will be able to determine the world, and my son can be supplemented by it, and if it cannot be supplemented, it can be replaced." In Liu Bei's lonely place, Wu San suddenly recited aloud, which startled Deng Ming. This guard didn't know a word, and he was able to recite this sentence in one breath, and then, Wu San also let out a sigh of emotion in a higher and higher tone: "Zhuang, I am the son of heaven." ”

When Wu San was passionate, Deng Ming suddenly remembered one thing: these people usually attach great importance to respect and inferiority, and Zhao Tianba was once a little dissatisfied with calling Liu Xiu's name, why did this Wu San call Wei Tianzi Xiao'er?

"Do your best, and then die! Strong, Prime Minister Zhuge Cheng! Wu San, who was also illiterate, also shouted.

The surrounding stone cliffs are engraved with poems left by literati in the past dynasties, the words are sonorous, the handwriting is flying and the phoenix is dancing, and Deng Ming's heart is suddenly moved. In the past, when Deng Ming came into contact with the story of the Three Kingdoms, he didn't think carefully about Liu Bei's dying mood, but now that he thinks about it, except for Liu Bei, it seems that no emperor will say this kind of Zen-like last words to the important ministers who are about to seize power under the suspicion of the lord and the young country before he dies, and the more common method is to use a glass of poisoned wine to take the important ministers and leave with him.

"If Zhuge Liang really has two hearts, he can use Liu Bei's words as a truth in the future, even if there were no two hearts at that time, repeating these words after rì can also stimulate the idea of usurping the throne, right? It is rare that Liu Bei can trust Zhuge Liang so much, and Zhuge Wuhou should be sincere and have no distractions. Deng Ming thought silently in his heart: "Not long after, when the Cao family was entrusted with Gu, it seemed that it was similar to this hand, letting the prince hug Sima Yi's neck, Sima Yi also cried and confessed at that time, but he didn't wait long to usurp the throne." Well, in the face of the supreme imperial power, the husband and wife, father and son have no human affection at all, it is really rare that Prime Minister Zhuge is unmoved. ”

Even the illiterate people remember this past, and countless people have come here throughout the ages to pay their respects, because there are so few people who value promise, faith, and friendship more than imperial power. Deng Ming still remembers that in the history of his previous life, Emperor Kangxi was dismissive of this matter, thinking that Liu Bei would not trust Zhuge Liang's conduct, and Zhuge Liang was just pretending.

According to Kangxi's judgment, Liu Bei's back will definitely be densely covered with armor, if Zhuge Liang is slightly wrong, he will rush up and chop him into meat sauce, Zhuge Liang just saw through Liu Bei's scheme, so the loyalty immediately blurted out. But can Liu Bei's armor still be with Zhuge Liang for a lifetime? Can you keep your mouth open for a lifetime?

Kangxi also seems to have been entrusted to the minister by his father Fulin, and later Kangxi also slaughtered one of them. In the eyes of the thieves, the whole world is a thief, and when Fu Lin is lonely, maybe there are dense armor soldiers behind the bed, and if it is not right for Sonny and Ao to worship one of their gods, they will rush out and chop these minions into meat sauce. How can a narcissistic person like Kangxi tolerate Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's Cheng dù surpassing his father and Aobai......

When Deng Ming was still thinking about it, the guide interrupted his thoughts: "Mr. Deng, look, that's Kuimen." ”

From the observatory on the east side of the White Emperor City, you can see the gate at a glance. The towering mountains seem to have been split by a sharp axe, the light gray peaks behind them are faint in the clouds, and against the backdrop of the magnificent mountains on both sides, the Yangtze River flowing into Kuimen is like a white stream, and the boats on the water are smaller like ants. His eyes moved along the Yangtze River from Kuimen to his feet, and yes, the wide river that was churning and roaring around him was indeed the same river as the water flow that looked like a slender silver snake in the distance.

When Deng Ming walked up, the Ming soldiers on the sentry saluted him one after another - now the defenders in the Fengjie area knew that he had won two battles against Tan Hong and Tan Yi. After saluting, the soldiers immediately turned around again, staring intently in the direction of Kuimen, monitoring the movement on the Yangtze River.

"As long as there is a boat sailing out of Kuimen, you can see it at a glance from here." The guide introduced the geography to Deng Ming, and brought the historical story by the way: "When the Son of Zhaolie was defeated by Eastern Wu in Yiling and returned to the White Emperor City, General Zhao Zilong rushed here and personally stood in this position to look eastward, as long as the Wu soldiers dared to chase him, he would face it." ”

This story naturally caused a heated discussion among the guards, but Deng Ming suddenly felt a wave of pessimism and despair:

Even if Tan Hong and Tan Yi were defeated, they only defeated two rebel generals, Wanxian was originally firmly in the hands of the Ming army, but now although it did not fall directly into the hands of the Qing army, it was also precarious. With the ability of Prime Minister Zhuge Cheng, the loyalty and courage of Zhao Yun and others, and the unity of one heart failed to restore the Central Plains and revive the Han Dynasty, now Sichuan is so ruined, surrounded by enemies, and even chóngqìng has been lost, can it support for a few years?

Deng Ming realized that after these two wars, he had attracted the attention of the Qing court, but he couldn't do it even if he wanted to be incognito, and after this experience, he didn't want to think about shaving his hair and becoming a submissive citizen: "Should I find a way to go to the beach and go to sea." Deng Ming glanced around at the guards around him, and thought to himself: "If you can find an island overseas, maybe you can still hold on to resisting." If you really can't do it, maybe you can go to the South Seas? ”

……

After playing around the White Emperor City for a few days, Wen Anzhi invited Deng Ming over to speak.

"This is a letter from the Duke of Yasukuni," Wen Anzhi handed Deng Ming a letter he had just received, "He hopes that Mr. Deng will have the opportunity to go to Dachang." ”

Deng Ming took this letter, and before he could open it, he saw Wen Anzhi pick up another letter, which was written by Hao Shaoqi, and asked Deng Ming respectfully if he had time to go to Fang County to inspect the soldiers. After Deng Ming took the second letter, Wen Anzhi immediately took out the third letter, which was sent by Liu Tichun, and he reported to Wen Anzhi that he would select strong men in Badong and ask the supervisor to go and inspect it. Of course, this is only the beginning of the letter, and Liu Tichun also knew that it was impossible for the seventy-seven-year-old Wen Anzhi to run for such a trivial matter, so he immediately said that in addition to the superintendent, if Mr. Deng from Fengjie came, he would also welcome him. Deng Ming had an extra eye when he reached out to receive the third letter, and he glanced at Wen Anzhi's table, where there was still a thick stack of letters......

The people who wrote the letter were basically the remnants of the camp, and they had no prejudices against these people, and felt that it would be okay if Deng Ming went, but he had no intention of forcing Deng Ming to go.

Looking at the letter in his hand, Deng Ming felt embarrassed for a while, he knew very well that these people also misunderstood that he was a clan, so he was so diligent and urgent, if he didn't go, these people would inevitably be disappointed, but if he went, he could imagine that he would continue to deceive people.

When he was in a dilemma, Deng Ming suddenly remembered that he had been pretending to be Han Shizi, and on the way to Fengjie, he thought many times about finding an opportunity to apologize to King Han, but after Fengjie, he forgot about it. Since he remembered this, Deng Ming immediately said to Wen Anzhi that he wanted to apologize to King Han in person.

Unexpectedly, Wen Anzhi shook his head when he heard this: "There is no King Han." ”

"What do you mean by that, Inspector?" Deng Ming had long heard that King Han's identity was confirmed by Wen Anzhi, and King Han had written letters to the generals many times.

"King Han is a fictitious child, he found an old man to pretend to be, and the letters were all written by the old man." There were no outsiders in the study, and Wen Anzhi did not intend to hide it from Deng Ming. First of all, he didn't think that the fake King Han could be fooled in front of Deng Ming's clan, and secondly, he had already reported this matter to the imperial court and got it, so he was not guilty at all.

Looking at the stunned Deng Ming, Wen Anzhi said calmly: "Only Hao Gong has a king of Anton, although everyone else is also looking forward to having a clan and speaking for themselves in the ears of the Son of Heaven in the future, but where are there so many clans?" If not, they are afraid that the court will only remember that they have done disobedience in the future, but forget their exploits against the Tartars......"

Wen Anzhi once asked the Yongli Imperial Court to send a powerful clan king to Kuizhou to sit in Kuizhou and appease the generals, but the imperial court did not agree, and Wen Anzhi privately speculated that the imperial court did not see the meaning and benefits of doing so, but first of all, no king had the courage to come to this dangerous place, and secondly, the imperial court was also afraid that the clan prince and the king would have the opportunity to cultivate power when he left the town, which would bring a threat to the imperial court.

It's time to burn your eyebrows, and you're still looking ahead! Although Wen Anzhi was dissatisfied, he would not speak out, so he wrote to the court again, pretending that the king of Han had fled to Sichuan, and used the name of the king of Han to appease the generals. Sure enough, as Wen An expected, the imperial court also knew very well that Sichuan was a serious matter, and immediately approved his proposal.

Wen Anzhi is full of splendid and well-informed, and there is no problem for people to pretend to be the king of the clan in front of a group of old generals who break into the camp, but the fly in the ointment is that this fake king of Han can only stay in Fengjie and cannot go out to tour the towns. Seeing Deng Ming this time, Wen Anzhi felt that Deng Ming was stronger than the person he was looking for, which was enough to convince the generals of Sichuan and Hubei.

"The generals brave the wind and rain and face the arrows, but they have worries, the old man, as a supervisor, how can he not give them a peace of mind?" Wen Anzhi sighed.

To be honest, Wen Anzhi didn't know if the imperial court would investigate the crimes of the generals who broke into the camp in the future. For example, Yuan Zongdi and Liu Tichun were both one of Li Zicheng's eighteen cavalry on Shangluo Mountain, and in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng was defeated and led the eighteen cavalry to retreat to Shangluo Mountain in southern Shaanxi, and later regained his strength and entered Běijīng. In the eyes of Ming Ting, these two people are definitely Li Zicheng's most vicious henchmen. Li Laiheng is simply Li Zicheng's nephew and heir. But Wen Anzhi has no idea what will happen to these old troops who break into the camp, and Wen Anzhi said that it is also the limit of his ability to give them peace of mind.

If you can't even give them peace of mind, how can you bear to let them serve the country? Deng Ming has gradually understood the fact that the lineage of Chuang Ying, Xiying and the Ming army do not regard each other as their own. If after the victory, these anti-Qing generals are likely to die at the hands of "their own people", Deng Ming still feels unbearable about this. Wen Anzhi said it right, since these generals have made up their minds not to surrender to the Manchus, then they can only fight with the Ming court to the end, and giving them a hope is not only should, but also far from enough.

"I understand what the Overseer means, and I'll set off here. In any case, the soldiers should not be allowed to fight the Tartars while not knowing the bottom of their hearts, as if victory means that they are one step closer to being punished by the Ming canon. ”

Leaving Fengjie and taking a boat down the river, after crossing Kuimen, we entered the Three Gorges area, and there were Ming army guides on the way to point out and tell Deng Ming the scenery and stories of Wuxia. On the road from Chóngqìng to Fengjie, although the river bank is rugged and difficult, you can always find some passable paths, but both sides of Wuxia Gorge are steep rock walls, on which are plank roads that have been built for an unknown number of years, and the hanging on the river looks wide and narrow enough for one person to pass.

The guide told Deng Ming that the terrain of the Three Gorges was almost so steep, and it was not until Yichang in the east that there was some gentle ground, and the Ming army in eastern Sichuan and northern Hubei completely relied on the Yangtze River for communication. Because the Ming army had the advantage of being at home, the Qing army had not been able to gain a foothold on this passage and station a naval division, so the Qing army could not attack the bases of the Ming army from all walks of land route; But on the other hand, if the naval division was destroyed and the Qing army gained control of this part of the water, the Ming army along the Yangtze River would also be divided into groups of lone troops that could not be echoed.

"Isn't the failure of this attack on Chóngqìng very disadvantageous to our army?" Seeing the topography of Wuxia, Deng Ming knew that the guide was right, and asked with some concern.

"Sir, rest assured, we still have enough ships, and thanks to Mr. breaking Tan Yi's old thief in Wanxian, he didn't let the Tartars gain a foothold in Wanxian." This time, if Tan Yi was allowed to control Wanxian steadily, then the Qing army could gather ships close to Fengjie, and then continue to move down the river to challenge the Ming army's control over the river. At present, the Qing army's naval division base is still far away in Chóngqìng, and the Ming army in the Three Gorges area has not been under much pressure.

However, the guide's words did not make Deng Ming feel very relieved. Although the strategic focus of the Qing court is not in Sichuan but in the southwest, after the Qing court pacifies the southwest -- this is certain in Deng Ming's view, but it is only a matter of time before the Qing court begins to encircle and suppress the Ming army in the Three Gorges area, calmly producing a large number of ships in the upstream and downstream at the same time, and continuously sailing into the Three Gorges. Relying only on this corner of the country, whether it is shipbuilding capacity or human resources, the Ming army is far from being able to compare with the Qing court, which controls the resources of the whole country. There was no need for large-scale mobilization at all, as long as Hubei and Jiangxi built ships on a large scale, and some craftsmen were transferred from Shaanxi to Chóngqìng, Deng Ming felt that the Qing army could completely overwhelm the Ming army in the Three Gorges within a few years.

"It seems that Sichuan is not a place to stay for a long time." Deng Ming is even less optimistic about the prospects of staying in Sichuan. I don't know if the gang of people who broke into the old camp still have the vigor to dominate the world in the past, but it is impossible to encourage them to break through downstream in a desperate way. Deng Ming felt that it would be better if he could open up an area near the sea as a base area, and he remembered that the history said that the Manchu Qing did not attach importance to the power of the sea, and that they could still get the echo support of the overseas Ming army with their backs to the sea. Deng Ming decided to wait until he met the generals who broke into the camp and asked their opinions.

After arriving in Wushan County, Deng Ming was warmly welcomed by the garrison, although everyone still called him Mr. Deng according to Deng Ming's request, but the enthusiasm for receiving him was obviously not under the previous reception of Wen Inspector.

Wushan County was originally garrisoned by Liu Tichun, but as Li Dingguo was repulsed from Hunan, the strength of the Qing army in the direction of Hubei increased significantly, so Liu Tichun gave up this place and went to Badong downstream to station, leaving only a small garrison in Wushan County. Liu Tichun's subordinates tried their best to persuade Deng Ming to continue along the Yangtze River to the east, Liu Tichun was looking forward to Deng Ming's arrival in Badong, and Wushan had already prepared a river boat for Deng Ming to transfer.

However, although Liu Tichun was so enthusiastic, Deng Ming could only politely decline, because he had already made a plan to go to Dachang in the Daning River valley first, that is, Yuan Zongdi's base. In any case, Yuan Zongdi was the first person in the world to lend a helping hand to Deng Ming, and it was impossible for Deng Ming to pass through his door without entering.